This novel is the story of a disabled British veteran, Keenan O'Tierney, who goes to the Great Smoky Mountains to rest, and meets an emotionally recovering American girl, Phoebe Pace, who has surprises of her own...

When Keenan first saw Phoebe, she was dressed in black from head to toe, eating dinner silently at the bed-and-breakfast lodge, and not talking to anyone before she left hastily after dinner. She looked sad. Keenan determines that he would bring some light into that dark life. A new mission. Just what he needs: more work!

EBOOK

In his valley of determination…

His friends call him O’Tierney the Optimist. Even after having lost two legs and an arm in a bomb blast and having undergone numerous reconstructive surgeries, disabled United Kingdom Special Forces veteran Keenan O’Tierney is still excited about facing unknown new challenges in life.

Highly decorated for his heroism in fighting terrorism on behalf of his grateful nation, Keenan has given enough to his country. Yet, his enemies are going after him and his former team members as an act of personal vengeance. To protect his family, Keenan leads a trail away from Britain. Off the grid, he is incognito at a remote resort in the mountains of Tennessee.

While waiting for his storm to pass, he meets an American girl who is hiding for a different reason in the same misty mountains…

PAPERBACK

In her valley of discouragement…

Bearing the burden of a mistake-riddled life, prodigal adopted daughter Phoebe Pace has nowhere else to go. She finds solace in the Great Smoky Mountains, living in quiet regret, not forgiving herself, and being unable to ask God to forgive her.

She thinks her days are merely for survival, with her job at the funeral home not improving her grim outlook on life.

Now the most intriguing guy Phoebe has ever met is sharing her swing on her log cabin porch overlooking unparalleled spectacular vistas. She has no intention of seeking any friendship outside her small and safe circle of friends. She would rather be left alone to wallow in her own personal loss and remorse.

What is she going to do with her new neighbor encroaching in her private personal space? Why is he so friendly toward her? So charming? So inquisitive…?

Just when Phoebe begins to think that she might open up her heart to Keenan, the ex-soldier’s unfinished business pulls her into a crisis she has never experienced before, and danger comes knocking…on the wrong door.

The scripture focus of the REACH FOR ME novel is God’s peace. We can be still before God because if we belong to Him, then He Himself is our peace. You can find these two verses at the back of the novel on the “Farewell from Keenan and Phoebe” page:

And he arose, and rebuked the wind,and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.And he said unto them,Why are ye so fearful?How is it that ye have no faith?—Mark 4:39-40

Be still, and know that I am God:I will be exalted among the heathen,I will be exalted in the earth.—Psalm 46:10

The hymn focus in REACH FOR ME is “Still, My Soul be Still,” a hymn by Keith and Kristyn Getty. Jan Thompson received worldwide permission to print the lyrics for this song in this novel. The hymn reflects what Keenan and Phoebe go through in their journey to be still before God and to trust Him for their past, present, and future. You can find the lyrics at the end of the ebook and paperback. Here are the Getty hymnwriters themselves singing this song: